Summary : The first post will be the summary of this thread, each additional posts will be specific ships and comments/questions.

"There will be a Forum thread for each class of ship, possible upgrades, and theoretical tactics for the ships of both the Federation and Klingon Factions.

Please find the appropriate sub forums and add to information as you find it."-Baumer

Well im posting this here sice the above quote was under then tech form of this section, however posting there is restricted to admin only. So I figured since these posts will be a type of "tip" this would be the second best place.

So the reason for this posting is to discuss different ship classes how they actually perform, how to get them, and if they are worth getting or not. There really isnt a lot of this type of information i could really find not only from this fourm, but perfectworlds, mmorgs top 100 , and several other sites visited when looking up ships and how they perform. Even after finding like worded posts they mostly turned into " jem bug is best, or better off getting fleet tactial escort" etc. Not how the ship in question actually performs nor why are these others "better." Which made me think trying to post information about different ships, how they perform, problems etc would be a fair idea. Im of course no expert on every tactic, or what is better then what, etc. I just love the ships of star trek. I of course like everyone have my own play style, likes dislikes and i will do things my way even if i know their are "better" ways to do things. I would love for other members especially with "unique" and hard to get ships to post on their experiences. Please remember im not trying to say one ship is better then another etc, I firmly believe you should fly what you LOVE. After all Love is what keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down.

First we of course have (Standard ships) for lack of a better term. These are ships that you can pick and choose through ranking up, or getting through missions. These are the most easy and cheap to obtain, however they are generally also the most limited, and "weakest" types of ships.

How to obtain: Ranking up you are provided one free ship request at different lvs. After or before which the same ships can purchased via dilithium. Some missions also award ships that are in this category.

Next we have (Fleet ships). Almost every standard class ship in sto has a fleet veriant. Although some "unique" ships also have a fleet variant. They are generally the most advanced form of any ship class, and usually the most powerful and final version of the ships. They typically have 10% more hull, an additional console slot or 2 and often have special abillitys no other form of the ship does.

How to obtain:The first requirement for any fleet ship is of course to be in a fleet. Different fleet ships will require different fleet tiers and structures, from mines, to spire. Some ships may be available at tier 1 starbase, others not until tier 5. Next all fleet ships require fleet credit, and your fleet has to be provisioned. Most fleet ships do require you also have fleet "modules" which can be purchased from the c-store for 500 zen, or for around 10m ec on the exchange. Most Fleet ships cost 4 modules however some cost more. Not All fleet ships cost modules. Furthermore if a player buys a teir 5 C-store version of any ship that has a fleet version the cost of fleet modules is reduced to 1. Same with the 1000 day vet bonus. Fleet ships can use the consoles from the c-store versions of the same class ship.

C-store ships. C-store ships are interesting, very often tempting, and have unique consoles. The typical c-store ship variant is a ungraded version of the standard classes however is not typically as powerful/upgraded as a fleet version. So they are like a mid lv end game ship. Their are some unique ships available only in the c-store that do not have a fleet variant at this time. C-store ships unique consoles are often the main reason people purchases them.

How to obtain: The easiest way to obtain a c-store ship is buy purchasing zen via real money. However, the zen to obtain c-store ships can also be had buy the exchange of dilithium for zen or the accumulation of a monthly stipend from gold members.

Lock box and lobi ships. Ive placed these both together since lobi is normally received through the opening of a lock-box. These are typically the most "unique" of all the ships you can get. They are often every powerful sometimes which can even rival the fleet version of ships in raw stats and consoles. Lockbox ships are often the most diverse having more universal boff slots then other ships. This is however starting to change with many c-store and even fleet ships receiving more and more universal stations. Another feature lock-box ships grant players over any other teir 5 ship is that they are often available for use at the rank of rear admiral. untill a player reaches lv 50 they are the most powerful ships at those lvs a player can get.

How to obtain: Normally these ships are obtained through using a master key to open different lock-boxes for a chance to win one. Master keys can be bought from the c-store or the exchange for around 3 mil ec each. This is generally the most expensive method, as most of the highly desired lock box ships are often very rare, and the grand-prize of that series. Some players have spent well over 300$ buying lockboxes to win the desired ship. Lock bock and lobi ships can also be purchased through other players, or the exchange. with prices ranging from 20k ec-200mil ec for high end ships. This is often the most easy/cheap way to get any lock-box or lobi ship. Lobi ships can be bought from the lobi vendors with lobi obtained from opening lock-boxes and during lobi mission events. ( this is the most expensive way to obtain)

Ways to get EC lobi/lock box ships: First of course grinding out millions of ec can be done but is very time consuming and can get frustrating, however is the only "free" method. You can however use real money or stipend to buy c-store items, sell those on the exchange for the ec very quickly. Their are 3 methods I know to do this.

First is the slowest but can be a little more cheep. Buy ship modules and sell on the exchange, while they cost 500 ec they can be sold for more ec-zen ratio then master keys. They can take sometime to sell however having a lack of demand on the exchange. For a 100 mil ec ship this method would cost arround 50 $ us ( at 10 mil per mod and a mod costing 500 zen or 5$ us) * mods can sometimes be sold for as high as 18 mil each depending on current market value, this is very rare however.

Second is the fastest and easiest way to get the ec. Buying 10 packs of master keys and selling each key individually. Keys are always in demand and sell very fast. This method is normally around the same cost as the first method, however recently price of master keys has been on a steady rise. Each key is currently worth arround 2.7 mil ec. so for a 100 mil ec ship this would cost around 42$ us ( 37 keys ten pack keys at 1125 zen or 11.25$ us earning 27mil for 10 keys)

Last is the most risky and can be the most expensive, however could potentially be the cheapest. Find more common lock box items in high demand ie blue lock box consoles etc. Buy a few keys and open lock boxes immediately selling the contents. If you are lucky you can get items worth 20-30 mil ec each with just a few keys, potentially spending as little as 11$ us. This is a gamble however and can fail to pay off. It is however much more likely to give you items to sell for the ammount of needed EC far before opening enough boxes to "win" the desired ship. items as high as a 11% chance over worth up to 30 mil ec over a 0.4 % chance to hit the grand prize.

the first two methods can also be used to obtain lobi ships such as the temporal destroyer much cheaper then buying the actual lockboxes for the lobi crystals.

__________________________________________________________("Now you turn your back on, All the things that you used to preach, Now its let him live in freedom,If he lives like me"=-jim Croce)"Patron: That girl is a witch.Mal: Yeah, but she's our witch. [cocks gun] So cut her the hell down. "

First this is a very diverse ship, with two fairly high lv universal stations their are alot of different way you can setup and use this ship. Its very often compared to the multi-vector advance escort, both having similar stats and are often flown in the same manners. Basically a sci escort but its open to many more possibilities. However having only 4 tact consoles and 7 weapons slots, its damage output compaired to some other high lv escorts, is limited. While this ship may only have 2 eng slots its a very tanky ship and has a higher shield mod as compensation. Its a very fun ship to fly, can very easily handle all elite stfs, and pvp with very little help. It is a bit more slow to turn however then many other escorts, but not so much that it makes too great of a difference.

Unique consoles: this was the area I was most hyped up about when getting this ship, and was a MAJOR disappointment. The mainhiem device splits your ship into 3 a present, past and future self all with very powerful antiproton weapons. Sounds great right? Sadly this special console is "broken" and not likely to be reevaluated or fixed in the near future. In any stf, or npc the moment this console is activated your past self receives 100% agro from every enemy ship regardless of who is actually the biggest threat. Not only do you receive all damage your past self receives if that version dies, so do you. Full shields, 100% hp and you still go bang. After many many tests this "suicide" console is just that. in any stf, you can expect to die within 5-15 seconds within activating the mainhime device. Seriously i never lived longer then 7 secs when using this, when i was taking no damage and had 100% health. It also doesnt work well with the part of the temporal set you gt if you have the wells class. The manhiem device does have some pvp potential, however duplicits last only around 15-20 seconds and has a fairly long cool down

Tipler cylinder: bonus fragment time. While the tipler cylinder from the wells class is a very unique and VERY powerful console, the set bonus fragment time is actually more of a penalty. All enemy's are frozen near you, however they can not be targeted. Yes this can buy a few seconds for allies to heal, but in general is useless. however if you only use the console from the wells class, it is a very powerful addition to a very diverse and over all well rounded escort. not to mention its sexy

final thoughts: I honestly expected more out of this ship, tho my main disappointment was from how bad the console it comes with really is. The mobius while powerful is in my opinion is but only slightly better then the fleet mvae due to its diversity, otherwise to me are pretty much the same ship. the new Patrol Escort Refit is also a very similar choice being an escort with high lv universal boff slot, and is more maneuverable, with a higher damage potential then the mobius however due to limited sci consoles is a little less tanky then the mobius. All in all unless you have the wells class, tipler cylinder their are better options for a sci like escort and for around half the cost. The fleet mvae would be a better choice if you wanted the mobius for its console ability.

Last edited by ryukotsu on Sun Jun 08, 2014 11:02 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : Missing information)

__________________________________________________________("Now you turn your back on, All the things that you used to preach, Now its let him live in freedom,If he lives like me"=-jim Croce)"Patron: That girl is a witch.Mal: Yeah, but she's our witch. [cocks gun] So cut her the hell down. "